Endowment
by iluvfourtris
Summary: This is a story about a girl who just wants to be normal. But that dream is shattered shortly after when the sweet boy Dean Oscardi saved her. Little did she know, he isn't normal either.
1. Chapter 1

High school is an environment where teenagers may act like idiots and do almost anything they please. And I hate it.

You'd think a teenage girl like me would love hanging out with her best friends. Well, I would, except the problem is... I don't have any friends. To a much less extent, acquaintances.

Don't judge me, I am very shy and very different.

My mornings are always the same. I live in that old, crumbling, excuse for a building they call an orphanage. My guardian couldn't give a single penny about me or my feelings. I am the skinniest girl in that orphanage, as the other children, who are all older than ,me have appetites of gorillas.

Miss Bophide, my guardian, is a pale woman with short, blonde, curly hair. She wears bright red lipstick with blue eye shadow. She wears too much blush and green pant suits, a different shade everyday. Her earrings are obnoxiously large and golden hoops, that match her necklace. She has a short temper and strict rules. If something does not go the way she wants, I pay for it. I am the youngest, after all.

There are five boys and four girls, including me. Adam and Sophia are nineteen years old, but not related, although, they could be. They love soccer, have brown hair with hazel eyes. They are smart and very funny.

Chris is eighteen and he pretty much just sits on the couch, listening to rock and roll music. He has olive skin and red hair with deep, dark, brown eyes. He doesn't say much and he always seems to be in a grumpy mood.

Kinzie and Patty are sixteen year-old twin sisters that love to text each other and give me make-overs that I wash off as soon as thy leave me. Their white hair is an equivalent to how dim they are. They love pop music, especially Justin Bieber, _oh_ _joy._

Sean and Ivan are best friends. Sean has blonde hair with blue eyes and Ivan has tan skin, brown eyes, and brown hair. They are so hilarious, they make the likes of me smile. They have nicknames for me, that I find absolutely funny. They ae both fifteen years-old, and are just like my brothers.

In the morning, I make my bed, do my chores, brush my teeth, eat breakfast, get dressed, and leave the house. I make my way over to Charles Street, towards the bakery for my job.

I work at Georgiana's Sweet Shop. Georgiana founded the shop on the corner four years ago, and she gave me a job as soon as she opened it. You see, she was a friend of my parents before they... Nevermind.

Georgiana is a middle-aged woman with deep hazel eyes, brown hair, a sweet smile, and she is very giving. She donates money to charity every Sunday, goes to Church, and loves the opera. She seems plain, but she is very ambitious and friendly. She even gives every child who goes to her bakery an extra cookie for free.

Georgiana is not related to me. She isn't even my godmother; I don't think I have one. But she is the closest thing I have to a mother. She makes me lunch every morning, she gives me pay, and she takes me shopping with Kate.

Kate is Georgiana's daughter. She is a beautiful girl five years older than me, with golden blonde hair, and deep blue eyes. She is almost my sister, compared to Kinzie and Patty. Devin and Pete are nothing alike, but they get along so well. Devin has blue eyes with black hair, meanwhile Pete has green eyes with white hair.

I work from eleven in the morning to four in the afternoon, three days a week. I earn three dollars every hour I do my job. I'm saving up money for a car. I take drivers ed. I live in South Dakota, so it is alright for fourteen year olds to drive. Yes, we will be reckless, but that's okay. That's just how we roll, some would say.

When I have school, I just feel like I don't belong. I am small compared to most girls. I don't have curves, I have a bony structure. I am very skinny, and my chest is less than average. When I take tests, my anxiety kicks in. I hear voices in my head, and I go into panick mode. So serious that I throw a fit and have to be escorted to the nurse's office.

I am not on any sport teams, or in any clubs. I don't talk to anyone. I know the answers to every question my teachers ask, but I don't raise my hand. I fear that my answers will be wrong, and I will look stupid. Then there are the teachers who pick any kid they don't hear from that day. When they look at me, I shake my head "no." They know why I don't talk out loud, and they don't tell anyone else. They don't have to and it isn't their business.

I throw my pillow up in the air and catch it as it falls back down to me. It's a good thing that I don't have school today. I wouldn't be able to hang out with Kate.

I tumble out of my bed and my bare feet fall to the cold, wooden floor. I lean over my bad and fluff up my pillow. I pull the comforter over it and flatten my bed down. It looks as if I never slept in it.

I open my closet and pull out my favorite blue cardigan sweater. Under it I am wearing a white tang top. I pull on dark jeans and black slipper-shoes. I grab my bag and shut my door behind me. I walk down the stairs and when I get to the bottom, someone yanks my arm, pulling me to the side.

Sean stares at me with satisfactory visible on his face. "Morning Alli. Can we ask you something important?" he asks. I nod my head and then it's Ivan's turn to speak.

"So, we accidentally broke Miss Bophide's favorite vase. Would you be a dear and let us borrow some money?" he puts on a mischievous smile on his face, but I'm furious.

"You two broke her vase? _Again?_ Guys, this has to stop. I'm fourteen, you two are fifteen, and this is so ridiculous. I'll pay you this time, but this is the last time. Okay?" I whisper harshly. They nod and smile.

I pull out my wallet and give them twenty dollars. I shake my head and walk away. I grab a corn muffin and I pour myself a glass of orange juice. "Good morning, Chris. Did you have a good sleep?" I say to Chris. He gives me a look.

"'Good morning?' What makes it so good?" he asks. I am taken aback, but I'm used to it. He hates being an orphan, and I don't blame him. Not having someone there for you in times of need is no picnic in the park.

I finish my juice and throw away the rest of my muffin. The orange juice made it taste sour. I put my glass in the sink and clean off the counter. After Chris left the table I washed it off. "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY VASE?" I hear someone shout. Miss Bophide comes scampering into the kitchen with to broken pieces of glass in her hands. "You. You did this!" she shouts.

"No I didn't, Miss Bophide. You're being-"

"Liar! How dare you lie to me, you little brat!" She cuts me off. Miss Bophide puts the broken vase down and hits me across the face. I stand there in shock. She's never hit me before. She grins evilly, and walks away.

I feel my face and curse. She cut me, and I'm bleeding. I throw down the sponge and run to the front door. I slam it behind me and run across the lawn. I head down the street to Georgiana's Sweet Shop.

I arrive just as Kate emerges from the shop. "Hey, babe. I was just coming to get you. What happened to you?" she says. I shake her off when she comes to examine my face.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Let's just go and have a good time, okay?" I tell her. She smiles and we start to the curb. "So is the rainbow-sprinkled sugar cookie bandit back?" I ask with a small grin on my face. For the last five months, we have made rainbow-sprinkled sugar cookies. And once a month, a whole batch goes missing.

Kate groans and I laugh at her. "Do NOT even bring them up, Allison. They came back last night. And you know how we got a security system? It didn't go off, and it broke, in fact. So the thief might be a possum, ew," she says to me. I laugh and it feels good to smile.

We turn the corner when someone calls my name. I stop dead in my tracks and groan. Keith. "What do you want, Keith?" I ask. He flicks his shaggy black hair to the side and stares at me with cold brown eyes. He is the captain of the football team and Kate's ex-boyfriend. He's been bullying me since their break up.

"I'm gonna make this simple. Katie, leave us alone for a minute. Alli, you come over here," he demands.

"Don't call me Alli, Keith. Kate, I'll be fine. Just wait over at the bus stop and I'll meet you there in ten minutes," I say. Keith grabs my arm and shoves me into the ally. He grabs my chin and makes me look at him.

"Listen, kid. You have to get Kate to go back out with me, or your buddy Chris won't be so nice-looking anymore," he threatens me.

"You leave Chris out of it-"

"Then you better get Katie to go on a date with me," he retorts. I shake my head.

"This is so stupid! Leave Kate alone and do not call her Katie. She doesn't like you!" I shout.

He shoves me into the wall and grabs my shirt collar. Mt feet fly from the ground. "Listen to me, little girl. You don't tell me what to do, alright. Kate does like me, she just doesn't know it yet," he says. I kick his leg and he drops me. I plan to run for it but he grabs my waist and pulls me to the ground on top of him. He pushes me off of him and punches my stomach. I cry out in pain. I try to stand but he grabs my bag and yanks me down with it. I kick him in the stomach and he recoils by kicking me in my stomach. I end up on the floor when someone emerges from the dark and grabs Keith.

I go into a fit of coughs as I pull my bag back on. I hear Keith grunt and look up expecting to find Kate, fighting for me, or something, but she's not there. Instead is a boy, wrestling with Keith.

I hear Keith shout in pain as he falls to the ground. The boy comes over to me and yanks me up by my arm. I stand up and the boy looks carefully into my eyes. I end up lost in a sensation of green. "Hi," I say. "Um, thanks? My name is Allison."

He is about to tell me his name when I clutch my head. The voice is back. It starts off as an irritating ringing so I know when he's coming. The boy bends down next to me. "Allison? Allison, are you okay?" He said. I shake my head and groan loudly. I fall on to my back when I hear his voice.

_Come to me, child. You know you must. You know what lies ahead in the future. You want your father, yes? Then you know what is best. If you do not come I shall simply wish for you to... I wish, I wish, with your strong Endowment powers..._

I scream as he says that and I feel myself standing up. He is forcing me to go to him. The boy grabs me by my hand. "Come on, Allison, _come on!_" He shouts. I yank my hand from him and fall to the ground.

"Leave me alone! _Please!_"I writhe around in pain, as if someone was stabbing me with a dagger. The boy drops down next to me and lifts me up. He starts running and I try to stop wriggling in his arms, but I can't resist it. He runs into something hard and my head hits the solid concrete.


	2. Chapter 2

I wake up in a bed, in a white room, wearing a robe, under a blanket. My eyes go over every cabinet, every tile, every needle in the room. There is a pounding in my head and a cord attached to my arm. The walls are white, the bed is white, pretty much everything in the room is white. A bit too bright for my liking.

Something stirs on my right side. I turn my head to see the boy sitting in a chair. I can see him clearly now. He has light, chocolate hair that is short yet wavy, and complements his features very well. His face is set with a square jaw, and his eyes are shut. He must be sleeping. And how long have I been out? What exactly happened to me in the first place?

I wince as I move my head. The boy's eyes snatch open and his hand tightens its grip on mine. I look up at him and he rests his eyes on mine. I search his face for any signs of emotion, but the only thing I find are green eyes filled with concern.

"Are you alright?" He asks. His eyebrows scrunch up and there's a crease in between them. Kind of charming.

I try my best to smile and say, "Thanks to you." He returns the smile and his teeth are shiny white. Laugh lines appear on his face.

"Anytime. I'm not really sure if you know my name? It's Dean Oscardi," he says. I nod my head and smile. He looks like Andrew Garfield from _The Amazing Spiderman._ Charming and he seems to be nice. I like his name, too.

I look around, and it turns out that I am not in a hospital. "Where am I... Dean?" I try his name out on my tongue. It flows naturally, smoothly. The corner of his mouth lifts and he motions at me to follow him. I take the chords off of my body and I feel dizzy when I sit up. He grabs my hands and pulls me up to my feet. I pout because I am barely up to his shoulder. His laugh and smile are enough to make me feel better.

He led me across the hall to a window. I look out at and hear myself gasp in disbelief. We were in a beautiful meadow, with mountains closing us in. A forest is at the far edge of my view. The large river is a gorgeous blue that the sky would have to compete with. I touch my fingers to the glass which startles a rabbit just below the window. I could stay here forever, but Dean takes my arm and leads me out of the room. But I don't stop looking out the window. "We are hidden," he said simply.

He takes me, holding my hand because I sorta maybe fell on the way out of the room. Down three flights of stairs and down a long narrow hallway we go together. My eyes wander from every picture to every seam in the wall. There are pictures of Dean and who I guessed were his siblings. I smile when we walk pass one of him as a child, no more than five, playing in a sprinkler.

We turn right and into a small room with dull yellow walls. There is one window and a brown piano. I wish I knew how to play. There are three blue bean bags ane the floor, and a flat screen on the wall. A popcorn machine is in the far corner.

There is a door on the other side of the room and it seems to have been left ajar. Dean gestures for me to wait here and I do. He walks over to the door, carefully. As if expecting a man to jump out with a knife and stab him to death.

The door creaks open and Dean enters, coming back out a few minutes later with a girl. She appears to be scolding him, with cold blue eyes. Her long brown hair flows elegantly over her shoulders. She is at least nineteen years old. Her long legs are covered in skinny jeans and high heels. She wears at least ten pounds of necklaces.

It suddenly feels cold in here, and the sun confers with me as it sinks in the sky.

The girl turns to me, clearly annoyed, and then she smiles. "Hello, Allison. My name is Ella, and I am obviously Dean's older sister."

She looks at Dean, as if for advice on what to say to me, and then she turns back and talks again. "Well, why don't we go and get you some clothes? I'm sure you're tired of my brother being annoying."

She grabs my hand and leads me away from Dean. I look over my shoulder, hoping to meet his gaze, but I only see the empty room where he was just standing not even a second ago.

She takes me into a large room and shuts the door. The walls are a flourescent pink with a purple rug. The four poster bed is white and there are pictures taped on it. There are three people in one, and I recognize only two. Ella, flashing a beautiful smile, is standing next to Dean and another boy, taller than Dean but shorter than Ella.

I turn around and Ella is in front of her dresser, rummaging around in a drawer. "What happened to _my_ clothes?" I ask. She turns around, smiling.

"I burnt them." She turns back to the drawer and takes out a black shirt. "On accident of course." I can feel the smile from her face all the way to over here.

She closes the drawer and comes over to me. "Here," she says shoving clothes into my arms. "Put these on." She turns me around and pushes my shoulders into the bathroom in the corner of her room. There are bottles and toppers of makeup everywhere, and it looks as if her room threw this bathroom up.

I pull on her clothes, which are way too big for me. I roll the jeans up a few times and I tuck the black shirt into them. I fluff out my hair so it's more curly.

I step out of the bathroom, holding the robe. "Oh, that's mine. You can just toss it over there into the pile. Yeah," she says. I toss it on to a pile. She looks at me and says, "You look like a little blonde version of me." She laughs and I just stand there, my mouth in a line.

When she finishes laughing she talks again. "What exactly happened to you? In the alley, I mean. Dean told me you were shouting at something to leave you alone." I frown and sit down on the edge of her bed.

"Well, at least twenty times a year, a voice comes into my head. It wants me to come to him, because, I'm not like other people. I grant wishes to people when they ask for them from me. No matter what they are, I have to grant them. Even if they kill me."

I've never told anyone that before, but that's because even I don't understand it myself. but I though Ella's reaction would be different then what I got. She screamed excitedly, and hugged me around the neck.

"That is so amazing! You have no idea how long my brothers and I have waited for someone like you! And get this, we're not like other people either!" she pulls back from the hug.

"We, meaning my brothers and I, we are called Ambrosial. We are delightful to be around, but we can only be understood, or loved, by Endowments. We can only live gracefully with Endowments. And we lost ours last year, and we were slowly decaying. But now that you're here, we can live!" She is practically a kid in a candy store right now.

"What is an Endowment? And what are Ambrosial?" I ask. I am completely lost. She smiles and rolls her eyes.

"Endowment are special people who grant the maximum wishes. Like you said. They are called to do people's darkest deeds, or their greatest. Endowments. We can't even be seen by others unless we want to be."

I try to process this. "Wait, so I can be seen when I want to be? And when I don't want to be?" She smiles like a teacher who finally broke through to her students.

"Well, Ambrosial and Endowments can see each other whether you'd want it or not. But you know how you call humans, humans? Well, we call the humans Prosaics. You can only hide or be seen from them."

I nod my head and heave a sigh of relief. At least I know why I never fit in anywhere.

"So where's your other brother?"

Ella rolls her eyes and sighs, almost in annoyance. "He's probably in his room. His name is Renick, and he couldn't be more like a ten-year old little boy," she says. She grabs my arm and wheels me away, shutting the door behind her.

She takes me down another hallway and to a brown door with a sign that says **NO GIRLS ALLOWED. ELLA THIS MEANS YOU!** Ella ignores the sign and opens the door anyways.

A boy about seventeen years old is laying upside down on a four poster bed that is untidy. He is wearing lacrosse shorts and soccer sandals and a sweatshirt that is so orange, if you were a deer you'd want to run. He has mossy brown hair and his face is covered in freckles. He has headphones in and is pretending to be playing a drum with his own drum sticks. When he hears Ella and I he pulls the plugs out of his ears and turns on us.

His cold brown eyes turn on us and he looks baffled when he sees me. "Ella, what did you do? Kiss the frog?" he says. I feel the heat rise to my cheeks and I look down at the floor which is covered in garbage and dirty clothes. I am so annoyed because it wasn't my fault that voice has to ruin my life. And I know I'm ugly enough.

"Stop that! Be nice to Allison, _Renick_, alright? She's been through a lot this week," Ella says.

"Wait, what? I've been here, asleep, for a week?" I ask bewildered. The siblings look at me as if I was stupid, or something. I clutch my stomach. "Oh no. This is bad. Very bad! DO you know what's going to happen to me when I get back to the orphanage? Miss Bophide is gonna kill me!" I shout as I pace the room. I end up on my face on the floor... Renick's dinner should have been in the kitchen a month ago.

Someone knocks on the door as I push myself up. I sit down and look to see Dean standing in the doorway. I try my best to smile and stand up. "Careful, Dean. Shortie here's gone aberrant," Renick says.

"I have not gone aberrant! I have a right to feel this way. You would be just as frantic if you were an orphan, and the woman who ran it smacks you across the face!" I shout gesturing to my scratch. I bring my hands to my head. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I am going to go back to that hell hole right now, so thank you for everything," I say exasperated. Dean moves aside and I walk through the doorway.

I am about three hallways away when someone grabs my waist and pulls me into a room. I fall on the floor and something hard lands on me. I meet green eyes with my sapphire eyes. "You don't really want to leave do you? Because I am sure that Ella told you that we'll die if you leave?" Dean asks. I sigh, frustrated.

"Of course I don't _want_ to leave. But I have to. I'm sure that the older kids will notice that I'm missing, and Miss Bophide will have my head on the mantel," I say. "Wait, you guys will... _die_ if I leave?"

He stands and exhales shakily. He grabs my arm and pulls me up. I cross my arms across my chest and hug my arms. "Ambrosial have to live with at least one Endowment- Ella told me that she told you about that stuff. Mainly because I told her to tell you. Our Endowment left last year because he had some family matters and, that voice that you hear in your head, he hears that in his head. Then we started decaying, internally. Then when we moved here, we started feeling alive again, and I knew it was you when you were with that jerk. Before that panic attack you had," he says eying me sarcastically.

I roll my eyes. As if he needed to remind me. "Go on," I say.

"You know, Allison, you kind of remind me of Howie, our last Endowment. He had the same eyes. Same calmness about him. He was even short like you. And he always mentioned having this _extraordinary_ daughter, but I can't quite recall if he ever mentioned her name," he says almost as if he thinks it could be me.

"It's not me. My father died when I was five years old. So it was not my father," I say defiantly. I look out the window at the grey sky. It's going to rain, hard, pouring rain. I shiver.

"Hey, we can help you out of that joint. You'd never have to go back there again. I've seen that place, and I can hear that girl screaming in there," he say. And I know he's talking about me. "And she sounds like she's in so much pain, and you'd just want to go and help her. But you can't, because you don't understand what's so bad about a safe haven where children go for a life without their parents. But, no, that isn't what she's screaming about. She's screaming about how she wants to leave. How she wants 'him' to leave her alone. How she wants help."

He brushes the hair from my face and a tear falls in its place. He's right. I scream in pain, and no one can help me because no one can hear me. I had no idea until how until earlier when Ella told me about the Veil. I turn away from Dean my ears hot, my eyes glistening with water. "You're right, you know. I'm weak and desperate for help, so unless you guys will help me, I'm leaving," I say finally turning around to face him.

I wipe the tears away from my eyes and drop my hands to my side. "Of course we'll help you! Allison, what do you think we'd do? Let you go back to that slaughterhouse? Which reminds me, how are we gonna get you out of there?" I shrug my shoulders and Dean says, "I think I have an idea. To Renick's room!" I turn to walk away and Dean grabs me from behind and I shriek with laughter as my feet leave the floor and he spins us around in a circle. He laughs at me and tickles me with his fingers which only makes me laugh harder.


	3. Chapter 3

This is the stupidest plan I have ever been involved in," I say as we walk down the street to the orphanage. Ella gave me some shoes that are too big for me, and I can feel the blister forming. Renick scoffs and rolls his eyes.

"Please, Shortie. I know what I'm doing. And how many plans have you actually been part of?" Renick says. He took off his sport clothes and put on a tuxedo to pull this off. I release an exasperated sigh I have held on to all day.

"Renick, I've been in plenty of devious plans with Ivan and Sean. You'd be surprised," I retort. We reach the house, finally, and I open the door. The floor creaks as we step on it and we walk into the parlor. "Okay, you guys wait here. I'll be right back," I say.

"Of course we will, Brigid," Ella says. She's wearing a pretty dress and leather brown boots. "Renick put that down!" she says. Renick had picked up a picture of Kate I had put here, in the parlor.

"Hey I've seen her around before. When I stole those sweets. You know, because we cannot be seen-"

"Wait, you're the one who's been stealing our rainbow-sprinkled sugar cookies?" I ask. He winks at me and I roll my eyes. "Alright, I'll only be a minute."

I walk up the stairs and step into my room. It's exactly how I left it. I go to my closet and pull out a duffel bag. I stuff it with my clothes and shoes. I grab my pictures and my books and put them in a Girl Scout cookie box; I'm addicted to Tagalongs. I turn around to leave when someone slams into me. Miss Bophide.

"Where have you been? You were supposed to vacuum the driveway Wednesday. And where on _Earth_ do you think you're going?" She asks. I roll my eyes.

"There is a family downstairs waiting to adopt me, so if you will follow me," I tell her. She looks startled before following me down the stairs. "She's coming!" I whisper to the three people sitting in my parlor. Ella and Renick fix themselves and Dean slouches back and kicks his feet up on the couch.

"Dean, honey. Get your feet off of the couch! Show your manners!" Ella shouts. I wink at her to let her know she is doing a good job... so far.

"You are such a buzz kill... _mother,_" Dean says. He had trouble calling his sister mother, I noticed. He plucks his feet off of the couch and slouches back into the cushion.

"Miss Bophide, I would like you to meet the Oscardi family. Mr. Renick Oscardi, Mrs. Ella Oscardi, and their son Dean Oscardi. They have come to allow me to join their family. I have the adoption papers, is it allowed, or am I going to have to work my ass off for this too?" I say to Miss Bophide. I hear Dean sniggering from his spot behind me on the couch and I roll my eyes in annoyance. As if he never cursed.

Miss Bophide seems to be thinking it over and she eyes the scratch she gave to me. I squint my eyes and try to look serious, but I feel like it makes me looks like a first grader pretending to not be able to see the board from her spot in the first row.

"Very well. You had just better hope that this family is not in any illegal business-"

"Oh, no! We are in no such manners! I try my very hardest to keep my family's slate clean and as try to tread on ground as far away from the law as possible. I believe-" Ella cut Miss Bophide off, and now it is Renick's turn to interrupt.

"What my wife is trying to say, is that we are simple people who do not interfere with the law in any way as possible." He nods as if agreeing to what he just said. I feel my eyes go wide when someone pinches my arm. It was Dean.

"What was that for?" I practically scream. He shrugs his shoulders and goes back to staring around the room. I follow his gaze to a picture of me when I was four. With my parents. I walk over to Dean as Miss Bophide talks with Ella and Renick and sit down next to him. "Yeah, that's me. I was at the park with my parents, and my mom is the one pushing me on the swing. And, and you can see the ducks and the swans swimming in the river. My dad took the picture. I can still remember that day, as if it were only yesterday," I feel my voice break at the end. Dean is still staring at that picture as if he knew me.

"Well, alright then, Miss Drakel, if this family seriously wants you, hand me the papers," Miss Bophide says. The Oscardis share a look of pure shock. I jump up and give her the papers. She pulls a pen out from her skirt's waistband and signs the papers. Ella and Renick sign them with the pen they didn't want to take, since it was in Miss Bophide's skirt.

"Goodbye, Miss Bophide! Thank you so much," I say sarcastically as I gather up my things. I take the picture of me with my mother and Miss Bophide all but pushes us out the door.

"What a pleasant woman," Dean says sarcastically. We make it halfway down the block before Ella rips the documents. "Well, that was uncalled for."

Ella gives Dean a look. "She can go the rest of her life without being seen by a Prosaic. Allison doesn't need those papers anymore," Ella says.

"I guess you're right... Whatever, I need to go take a shower. Do you guys know a place where I could live, or something?" I say. I clutch my belongings tighter.

Renick scoffs. "Shortie, you're living with us. We're not gonna let you wander the streets by yourself. A little thing like you wont last five minutes on your own!" Renick says, laughing. I shrug my shoulders and smile. At least I have a permanent home, now.

I step into a dark room with a cold tiled floor. When I flip the light on, I see that there are stalls for the toilets and sinks in the first part of the bathroom. I walk through there to the lounge section. There is a great big wall that has been painted a soothing orange and there are chairs and a flat screen television stands on a table. There is also a mini refrigerator in the corner with a cupboard above it filled with Pringle's.

I make it to the shower section and see that it is much like the first part of the restroom. There are ten stalls with doors, and they are cut off at the top so you could talk to someone who is in another stall, taking a shower. Much like a college would have, but instead of curtains there are doors. And this is a public bathroom, for men and women.

I strip out of my clothes and put them in the hamper. My hypothesis was correct, and it would seem, that I have a red blister on my toes. I walk over to a stall and shut the door behind me. I start the water and just stand there for a few seconds, letting the hot water consume me in sleek wetness. I bend over and pick up the bottle of soap and pour it into my hands. I massage it into my hair and pretty soon I'm singing a song.

It happened to be the completely catchy song from _A Very Potter Musical _called _"Gotta Get Back to Hogwarts"_ and I am completely in love with it. If someone were to say that I am a _Harry Potter _fanatic, they would be correct. I love _Harry Potter_ to Mars and back.

As I'm putting conditioner in, I hear another voice join in. I practically jump to find out that it isn't Ella. It's Dean, and he's in the next stall.

"Oh my God! I didn't know you were in here!" I shout at him, covering myself up, even though he can't see me. I hear him laughing really hard.

"And I didn't know you liked Harry Potter, too!" he shouts back. I slowly walk closer to the stall and stand up on the tips of my toes to see his head. I grab a towel and wrap it around myself and then jump up so I can see him, not wearing clothes... I eye him carefully and he says, "Don't worry! I'm no Peeping Tom. You can go on with your shower." I hold my towel as I lean on my arms for balance. I don't look at him below his chest. That would be problematic.

"I'm not gonna continue to take a shower until you move," I barter. "And there's a bunch of things you don't know about me, Dean. You'd be surprised how odd I am. I mean, if you look in one of the boxes I packed, you'll find all eight movies, all seven books, and a whole bunch of merchandise. And that's not even half of all the fandoms I am involved in. I am a total book nerd." if I stay here I could

We laugh at my confession. "You are so _weird_," Dean says. I nod my head twice and bite my lip. "Alright, I'll move if I stay here, because I if I stay here I could just peak over your stall. Now, get back down so you can't see me." I do as he says and hear his water turn off. I hear the door open and his feet sticking to the floor as he makes his way to the stall next to him. Finally, the water turns on. "So, how are you?"

I sigh. "I don't know Dean. Fine, I guess," I give in. There's a moment of silence filled with nothing but the patter of the water hitting the wood. I put my towel down and step back under the flow of water. "Well, I am a bit, ah, what's the word? Boggled, I guess. I'm boggled. I don't know what's going on, I have no clue what I am doing here!" I shout. I release a breath I didn't realize I've been holding.

"Allison, I'm sorry. I didn't realize how hard this must have been for you. Well, I mean, I did, but I didn't..." he sighs frustrated. "I mean I know what you're going through. I grew up since I was eight without any parents. Howie came along when I was eleven. I grew up for a couple of years in an underground village of ambrosial, and I... I just know it's hard."

I didn't realize his life was so hard. I thought he had a great life so far, but that's just after one day of knowing him. "Hey, we're fine now, though, right?" I say. I hear him agree and chuckle, a little. "What's so funny, Dean?" I ask giggling myself.

"Well, I was thinking of earlier this week when I beat that guy who was attacking you, and how he was trying so hard. And his hard was _weak!_" I laugh with him and suddenly there's a loud rumble in the sky. "Woah, that storm came fast."

"Yeah, it did. Hey Dean? When you saved me, did you see a girl around? I ask him. I hear him ponder aloud.

"Oh! That girl in the picture Renick thought was holding earlier? Yeah, I saw her. She was lip locking with a boy with blonde hair. Seemed pretty involved in that sport. Does she have a medal?" He says sarcastically. I don't answer.

I pick up a razor and layer my underarm with soap. I run the blade across my skin and do the same on the other side of my body. Pretty soon I'm doing the same thing to my legs and then a low humming starts. Dean is singing a song, and he has a pretty good voice. It's a really good song, too. The song is _"Radioactive"_ by The Imagine Dragons. Almost unwillingly, I am singing along with him.

Sooner than I would have liked, the song ended and his water turned off. I turned my faucet and wrap my towel around my body. I press up against the stall door and next thing I know, Dean is there pressing up right against the other side. "We make an excellent chorus. Don't you think?" Dean smiles.

I smile right back and nod my head. Then there's a flash of light and the wall facing the wood burst free of itself. A large creature, the size of a mobile home. It has a large eagle featured face, with a large beak. It has the bodest of a lion and large talons with large eagle wings. "GRIFFIN!" Dean shouts. He reaches over my stall to unlock it and grabs my arm and hauls me to the lounge.

I fix my towel and push my hair behind my ear. "Alright, well, that's a griffin," Dean begins. His green eyes roam frantically around, as if the air holds the answer to his problems. "And, ah, it is not supposed to be here. So, we have to get rid of it."

"Can a griffin really be that bad?" I ask him. I peak over the couch we're ducked behind to see the creature just nosing about the showers.

"What? No! Allison, griffins are dangerous! They don't just frolic about the fields and fly when they feel threatened. Griffins, are unholy creatures that show no mercy for anyone. They will kill you without a doubt. Baby, or adult, they do not care. They see humans as a threat to their existence. But, they only come when summoned by Loathsome you can probably figure out what they are by their name," Dean says. I nod my head twice.

"So how are we supposed beat it?" I ask Dean. He looks puzzled. "Have you ever fought a monster before?" I shout.

"Ah... that would be a no... I only know so much about these types of creatures because Renick told me. And it would be terrific if we had some blades in here now. But of course Ella had to disagree," Dean argues with himself.

"Dean, that's ridiculous. They might be the sweetest things ever!" I say standing up.

"No, Allison! Bad idea, bad idea!" Dean whispers. I ignore him and run over to the Pringle's. I grab a tube and fix my towel, pulling it tighter. I step carefully closer to the griffin. It turns its head and growls when it sees me.

"Hey boy," I say calmly to the creature. It looks startles that I didn't try to kill it with the almighty tube of chips. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Do you want a snack?" I say quietly. He sticks out his tongue like a dog would.

He wags his tail back and forth and if I'm correct, he smiled. I laugh and say, "Sit!" And he does. I open the tube and grab a handful of chips. I toss them up in the air and he catches all of them with one swish of the tongue. I laugh and I can hear Dean walk up behind me. "Good boy!" I shout.

"Well, I was wrong," He says smiling. "He needs a name, though. How about... Brandon?" he asks. I give him a look.

"How about... no. His name should be something like Aslan. You know, 'lion' in Turkish." I say. I hear Dean ponder the thought.

"I like it. Not dorky, not girly. Decent. Aslan the griffin," he says. I laugh and smile. I put my hand up and Aslan pushes his beak into it. I stoke him and go closer to pet his face. "Well, he needs a place to live."

"No, he can fly free and when we need him we'll call him," I retort. Dean nods his head once. "Alright, well, go on. Fly away!" I tell Aslan. He nips my arm and knocks Dean over with his beak. He spreads his wings and gallops off toward the hole he made in the wall. I watch him soar free through the dark sky until I can't see him anymore. Then it starts to rain. Not a drizzle, but pouring rain. I turn my head and Dean is still on the floor. I shake my head, grinning, and hold out my arm for him. He grabs my hand and I pull him up.

"Well, I am _starving_. Let's go get dinner!" Dean says. I giggle and he grabs my arm and leads me out of th bathroom to the room I put my stuff in. It's the room Dean showed me earlier. The one with the magnificent view. "Get dressed! We are going out," he says. And with that he shuts my door and I am left to pick an outfit that would be suitable for eating dinner at a place where only three people can see me.


	4. Chapter 4

I pull on a pair of black leggings and a grey long-sleeved blouse. I slip on my black boots and my ring with a ruby on it. It ws given to me by my father just before he left. I tug my hair back in to a high ponytail. This is a casual outfit.

I throw my towel in a hamper Renick had given me. He said something along the lines of having too many of them and not knowing to do with them. Then Ella had said that this was the only one he had, and it's never been used. Go figure.

I look out the window, and it jut feels familiar. Like I've seen this place before. I know my way around alright, but that's probably because I have already been on three tours of this place. Dean's was the worst. And he'd given me two. Ella, on the other hand, should be a tour guide. At the labyrinth from Greek mythology.

I shut my door quietly behind me and meet up with Ella in her room. Together we walk down the hallway to the boys' rooms and pick them up. We walk out of the entrance to the Compound, and now that I think about it, this must be an abandoned school. There are more than one hundred rooms and four major hallways. There's even one room that is full of desks and chair and paper and tables.

The rain stopped, suddenly. As if the atmosphere knows we'd be walking for about an hour.

"Okay! Today, we are heading to Target," Renick says. I make a weird face.

"Target? Why are we going there?" I ask. Ella scoffs. Dean laughs and Renick looks at me as if I'm the stupid one.

"Why _aren't_ we going there?" Renick asks. True, true. All true. I laugh and roll my eyes. That's not an answer. "'Cause that's where we go to get food sometimes. Christ, Shortie."

I smile and follow them to the front lawn and across the driveway. We make our way toward the train station at a normal speed. "Hey," Ella says. "We don't want to be seen, remember? Okay here's how you do it. Pretend your naked, in public. Your ass is hanging out and you wanna die. Or in Renick's case, your ex caught you flirting with her sister."

"Hey now, that's a great excuse if she can't see you," Rennick comments. Dean laughs and slings his arm across his brother's shoulder. I smirk as if I just caught their brotherly love adorable. Which, coincidently, I did. I wish I had a sibling that I was close with. The other kid at the orphanage, don't get me wrong when I say I love them, because I do. But, Adam and Sophia were the nicest ones to me, and they took me under their wings first. But Sean and Ivan ae always making me smile, even if they've cost me money. Chris just never talked to me, Kinzie and Patty just... no. And Georgeanne and her kids were more like cousins and my aunt. I guess I've never been the family type. I fall in to an awkward position next to the Oscardis.

We walk at least a mile before we get to Target, and when we do get there, man, was it packed. I imagined myself naked (how inadequate) and I gave the finger to a man to see if I went invisible. And it worked! I am invisible! That made me feel a little better.

"Target! Home of the living and the dead!" Dean says. Ella, Renick, and I give him a look. "I know, I know. "Dean, that makes no sense!"" We just stare at him for about ten more moments than we look away. That was awkward.

We step into Target and just stand there. "Well, what do we do now?" I ask. Ella hives me a bright smile.

"Whatever we want," I catch my breath before we all shout "YEAH" in unison. Ella grabs my arm and Renick grabs Dean's and we all run off in two directions. Not one. Not ever. Just, no.

Ella and I, laughing hysterically because she knocked into a guy and he knocked into a woman and she hit him over the head with her pocket-book, go straight to the clothes. She grabs a cute peach tangtop and about a hundred more necklaces. "Do we have to pay for any of this?" I ask. She laughs at my comment.

"Oh, Allison. You have so much to learn. Here, these might look nice on you," she says shoving clothes into my arms. I feel my knees buckle underneath all the weight. "Woah!" she shouts. She grabs my arms and takes about half of the clothes back. "Okay, let's just start with shirts."

I smile. "Didn't we come here to get dinner?" I ask. Ella considers this.

"You're right. RENICK! DEAN! WHERE ARE YOU!" she shouts loudly. Her brothers could be anywhere in this store, I don't blame her. But I think I may have gone deaf in my right ear.

I hear a screeching and shouting and I lean my head into the aisle to see what's going on. What I do see is Dean and Renick hauling a cart straight towards us. I jump back into Ella just as the cart crashes into the racks right next to us. Ella and I laugh. I help her up and she brushes herself off. "I'm good," she says.

I nod my head and turn my attention back to the brothers. "Get in," Dean simply says. I see a glint of insanity in his emerald eyes.

"I am not getting in that thing," I tell him, backing up a little. He comes at me at full speed and grabs my around my middle. I scream out in shock as my feet leave the floor. He laugh devilishly as he rotates me so he is holding me like a bride. He slams my body into the cart, my calves and feet hanging free in the front. I have to balance on my arms to stay up, and we are all hysterical.

"Oh my God, you're insane!" I shout. He smiles at me. I roll my eyes and he heaves forward with an expression so serious on his face that I couldn't get rid of the grin plastered on my face. Pretty soon we're charging through the store at top speed towards the produce section.

"Hey, check this out," Dean says. As if even possible, he sprints even faster. I crane my neck to look at him. His face is light and cheery and he looks like a little boy. "Get ready," he says. I brace myself for whatever he intends to do. He jumps up off of the ground and stands up right behind me.

I clutch the cart so tight my fingers turn white. Without my knowledge, Dean reaches down, grabs me under the arms. He pulls me up and stands me up with him on the cart. I cover my eyes and he holds me tight.

Next thing I know, the cart rams into a shelf, and we go flying over the aisle. I instinctively cover my head with my arms. Dean, however, wraps his arms around my chest, protecting my heart and lungs with his large forearms. He screams as we flip over the shelf and, of course, his body lands on top of mine. My breath hitched in my throat as we slam into the hard ground.

He is laughing like this is an everyday occurence, and maybe it is. He is still holding me protectively as my arms go up to his and remove them. He gets off of me and I roll over on my back. I grunt as he grabs my arms and helps me to my feet. I brush myself off and he is looking at me with nothing but adrenaline. "You wanna do that again?" He asks. I look at him in bewilderment.

"No thank you, I plan on keeping my bones inside my body," I say with a touch of annoyance. But, man, was that fun! I try to take a few steps, and I figure out that I twisted my ankle, and I limp.

"Do you want me to make you a crutch? Or carry you?" He asks sincerely. I shake my head and tell him that I'm fine. _Liar, _my mind tells me. I hit my forehead, in annoyance towards my mind. Ella and Renick come jogging towards us, breathing hard.

"Are you two alright?" Ella asks concerned. I nod my head and Dean shouts out in excitement. She smiles and she bumps her hip into me. "Come on, we have to go get dinner." I follow her to the produce section. Renick and Dean are deep in conversation about some little boy they just saw who was pretending to shoot a gun.

"He can't even make the right sounds! He was holding a _rifle_, not a pellet gun. Who does he think he is? G.I. Joe?" Dean argues.

"Oh my God, I thought the same thing!" Renick exclaims. The two share a look of amusement and high-five. I roll my eyes and smile.

"They're so _weird!_" Ella exclaims. I laugh and she shoves my shoulder playfully. "It's not funny! Allison, how would you like to live with two boys? No women, just two little boys." She groans loudly and throws her head back. Renick runs up behind her and throws her over his shoulder and runs off laughing like an escapee from an asylum.

I smile widely and roll my eyes. That would be pretty, actually. To live with two boys and no one else. Dean wanders off towards the chocolate milk and I put my hands on my tiny hips. "You like chocolate milk, huh?" I ask.

"Love it!" He answers me like a little boy. He opens the refrigerator door and dumps a whole rack of it to the ground. He runs and grabs a cart that someone left in the middle of the aisle. I help him gather up his drink and put it in his cart.

Pretty soon we fill up the entire cart with snacks and drinks and clothes and toiletries that will probably last until next year. Renick has a small Hostess cake in his mouth; Ella is admiring her new wristlets; Dean is fixing his one of his new hoodie; and I am reading one of my new books, _The Host_. "So, how are we getting home?" I ask. The siblings look at each other.

Next thing I know, Ella and I are sitting on the top of the cart and the boys are plowing through the parking lot. Renick is yelling, "Go, go, go, go, go, GO!" And Dean has that serious look on hiss face again. We stop behind a large pickup truck and I jump in the back of it. I grab a whole bunch of the stuff we bought and pull it in. Ella helps me, laughing hysterically.

"We borrowed too much stuff!" she cries. I smile and continue hauling. Renick punches the window on the driver's side of the truck and reaches in to unlock the car. Dean climbs into the back, and Ella and I close the "trunk" and push the cart away. "DRIVE!" Ella shouts. Renick floors the accelerator and we take off full speed.

The last thing of Target I see is a man running over to where we the truck was. "Where's my truck?" He shouts. He drops his purchased items and a carton of milk explodes all over. "Oh, damn it! These are my new boots!" He runs back to the store's entrance. Ella and I exchange glances before bursting into laughter. I double over and there are tears leaking from her eyes and we collapse in a heap of limbs pulled taught in laughter.


	5. Chapter 5

**AUTHORS NOTE: THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR ALL OF THE REVIEWS AND VIEWS I AM GETTING. THEY MEAN THE WORLD TO ME! BUT I HAVE A SERIOUS QUESTION FOR YOU INVOLVING THIS STORY. WOULD YOU GUYS WANT ME TO SEE IF I CAN GET THIS PUBLISHED? I PUT THIS STORY ON HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE TO SEE IF YOU WOULD LIKE IT, AND I NOTE THAT A FEW OF YOU HAVE, AND THAT GIVES ME HOPE. JUST COMMENT BELOW WHAT YOU THINK, PLEASE! HAPPY SUNDAY!**

We get back just as it starts to rain again. The sky rumbles the Earth and Renick pulls into a garage I didn't know they had. It takes about ten minutes to unload everything and put it where it belongs.

When we're done, Dean and I just sit on the front steps in the rain. Not really talking, just watching the rain. The rain isn't an annoyance, just there. He huffs out a breath he must've been holding. "What?" I ask.

"Oh, nothing. Just bored," he answers honestly. I nod my head twice. "Or, we could have fun." A grin appears on his face and he looks at me and arches his eyebrows.

"What?" I ask, a smile creeping its way on to my face, too. He is contagious. He stands up and holds his hand out for me. I take it and stand up, too. He leads me out into the rain and positions me in front of him. He guides my hand to his shoulder and takes the other one in his. His free hand goes to my waist.

Even though there is no music, he starts to dance. He leads me from side to side, front and back. "This is not working," he says. I go to pull back but he stops me. "Here, stand on my feet." He demands simply. I arch my eyebrow but do as he says. Then he starts swaying again in a timely pattern. I hop backwards and stand on the moist grass. He moves the hand on my waist to my other hand and he starts twisting and he is smiling brightly.

I smile along with him and we both chuckle and I can hear music. He moves faster and spins me out and pulls me back in. We rock side to side on our feet and we dance as one, him switching me around, from one side of his body to the other. Then he pulls me in close to his chest and my hands are crossed over my chest and clutching his.

Then I have an awesome idea. I pull away from him like a toddler who doesn't want to go to sleep.

"You can't catch me!" I shout. He laughs, a real one, and chases after me in the storm. Lightning flashes across the sky, but I don't care, and neither does Dean. I laugh with him, thinking that I'll get away with it, but I was wrong.

He grabs my legs and throws me over his shoulder. "Got you," he whispers over his shoulder to me. He lays me down in the grass, and he lays down next to me, only our heads contacting.

I close my eyes and feel the rain pour down on me. I feel someone touch my hand with their's and panic, but then I remember that it's just Dean. Just Dean. I smile, my lips closed together. This is absolutely wonderful; all I would need forever.

I smell the wet grass and I can smell the wet fur and hair of animals. But mainly I can smell Dean. He smells of spirament toothpaste, and blueberries, and of coffee. I have no clue what it is, but there's just something about him...

I intertwine my fingers with his and just stay like this for a while. I feel his hand, running down my hair. He takes it out of its binding and is just playing with it as if it was a toy. A gust of wind from the north blows the rain to us in slicing droplets of water. I feel Dean move his hand away from mine and he stands up.

He walks in front of me and I open my eyes. His expression on his face is unreadable. It looks like he is thinking about something serious. He helps me to my feet and I just trail behind him as he walks off to the Compound. Did I do something wrong? No, no, no, that's impossible. He is the one who wanted to dance, not me; I just joined in. I close the front door quietly behind me and walk back to my room on the third floor.

"I _seriously_ need to clean up," I tell myself. I gather up all the books I got and out them into two tall piles against my wall. I open the bed set I "borrowed" as well and spread them out and tuck them in. I put all of my clothes in the dresser and I open the closet.

It is empty except for a shelf near the top and a small photograph on the floor. I pick it up and look at it hard. The picture is of the Oscardis and... is that my _dad?_

I stand up and pinch the bridge of my nose. He was their Endowment? They did know him? I pace back and forth and I look at the date.

_April 24 1999_

Oh, well, that's fine. I wasn't born yet. He was there Endowment before the one Dean was talking about earlier. I sigh, relieved. This is fine. I put the picture on the high shelf in the closet. I shut the door, letting that block me from that idea.

I finish with my clothes and then grab the jewelery Ella made me get. I place it gently in the jewelery box she gave me. Nothing fancy, polished cherry wood with a smooth glass viewing panel.

I tidy up the space, making everything align. I set up the laptop I got from Target and smile when I set the home screen. I took a picture of that photograph of me at the park with my father. It's just a reminder that the old times and memories will always be with me.

My door swings open and Ella just walks in without saying anything. She grips my shoulders and kicks the door shut. "Can I help you?" I ask her, smiling.

She wears a smug look and her hair is pulled back in a french braid. She crosses her hands over her chest and heaves a sigh of exasperation. "Do you like my brother?" she asks. I arch my eyebrow.

"Which one?" I ask. She rolls her eyes.

"Dean," she answers. "The one you were just having a moment with outside in the rain." I blush.

"You saw that?" I ask her.

"Both Renick _and_ I saw that," she replies, looking pleased with herself. I scratch the back of my neck.

"He's nice," I say, standing. I grab an empty box and take it over to the closet.

"So you _do _like him!" she exclaims. I drop the box at her accusation.

"I do _not _like your brother in _that_ way," I whisper so Dean can't hear us, my cheeks burning. I stare up at her and she glares down at me. She tilts her head to the side as if expecting me to give in and tell her that I want to go and live in a mansion and have twenty kids with him.

I scoff and roll my eyes. "Fine! Fine, I like your brother in that way," I say. I turn away from her and pick up my box. Her sounds of elation echo through the hallways. I throw the box on to the shelf in my closet and turn around to face her. I cover her mouth with my hand and pull her back into the closet.

I bring my finger to my lips and tell her to be quiet. I pull my hand away from her face and she is grinning ear to ear. I hear my door swing open and I hear Renick stalk in. "Shortie?" he calls out. I smile and roll my eyes. I hear him turn and leave the room, closing the door behind him.

I carefully open the door and Ella skips out merrily. "Don't worry, I won't tell him that you love him," she says in a sing-song voice. She opens my door and runs down the hallway laughing.

"I DO NOT LOVE HIM!" I shout after her. Renick comes around the corner again and when he sees me he smiles.

"We both know you do," he says nodding. I bang my head against my door frame and he walks away munching on a potato chip. I roll my eyes and close my door behind me. I lean on it and smile. I think I do actually like Dean Oscardi.

I hug myself and slide down and just sit there until eventually I drift off to sleep in a haze of my memories of our dance from earlier. The patter of the rain carrying my down, down, down.


End file.
